The Prophecy of Nine
by glongphee
Summary: Coincides with Mark of Athena. After a 'mishap' at the Roman Camp, Camp Half Blood is left protecting it's borders from an inevitable war. During his patrol, Leo Valdez encounters a girl named Andrey who claims to be Percy Jackson's sister. It's then revealed that Andrey - along with another Greek demigod - are destined to be apart of the Prophecy of Nine. Leo x OC
1. Chapter 1

I

LEO

It was a warm, summer night on Long Island. Leo Valdez stood at the top of the hill of the valley that hid Camp Half-blood, a summer camp that trained Demigods of Greek gods how to survive their never-ending battle with the monsters of Tartarus.

These days, everyone was in their respectable cabins by ten, except for the few demigods that guarded the outside of the camp. You see, just a few days ago, Leo came in a trireme named the _Argo II_ - which he had built, _by the way_ - with six other demigods. They had barely escaped another demigod camp, which was Roman, because Leo had went crazy and fired the ship's ballistaes on the Romans. And because of this weird misunderstanding, They had a very angry army of Roman demigods after them, which meant that they had to keep their guard up.

Hence the reason why Leo was standing at the top of the hill, aimlessly looking across the countryside. Most nights were like this, and nothing had happened in these past six days. But Chiron, the centaur camp director (yes, a _centaur_), was sure that the Roman army would be on its way soon, and that the camp needed protection. He forgot to mention, however, that the actual protecting of the camp boarders was extremely and utterly _boring_.

At least that's what Leo thought. Until this one particular night, when Leo heard the screeching of furies. At first, Leo just thought he was imagining things. Until he realized that the screeching was real and coming from _right outside_ the camp boarders, from the line of trees that were right at the base of the hill he was standing on. Leo turned to the sound just when a figure broke through the line of trees and started sprinting up the hill, with two furies flying low behind them. Leo stood where he was, unable to move. The figure trudged up the hill, and as the figure got closer, Leo realized that the figure was a her. And her face was screwed up tight in a look of determination. Suddenly, the girl slammed into him, which got his body working again.

'What the name of Zeus are you doing just standing there?' She shouted angrily. 'Do you just stand there when furies are chasing after _you_?' Leo spluttered. The girl groaned. 'Could you move, please? You're kind of in my way.' She started side stepping Leo until he caught her by the shoulder.

'Where are you going?' He asked. The girl rolled her eyes.

'Where do you think? Into the camp. I need to talk to one of the demigods.' Leo looked at her with suspicion, the furies still hanging out just outside the boarder, screeching loudly. He kept his grip on her shoulder. The whole situation seemed a little strange: sure, some demigods were found occasionally these days - but they were always with a guardian. And she was alone, looking at Leo with a look of anger, talking about the camp, which mortals weren't supposed to be able to see.

'Look, just tell me who you want to talk to.'

'I don't have any time! I need to speak to him now!' She exclaimed, and tried to pry Leo's hand away from her shoulder. He tightened his grip.

'Who?' She looked up into Leo's face; her eyes seemed to almost burn with anger. Normally, he would've thought they were beautiful: they were a greenish-grey, almost like the colour of the sea during a storm. But at the moment, Leo was so focused on prying information out of the girl to notice. Much.

'Just. Let. Me. Go!' She said loudly, and she managed to pry Leo's hand off of her, and shoved him to get him out of her way. She started storming off, but before Leo could do anything, she collapsed. Leo scrambled up and sprinted to her. He tried to help her stand, until he realized that her backpack was soaked in something. When he looked closer, he saw that it was a deep red. He ripped off her backpack, to find that the back of her shirt had been shredded, along with most of her back. She was extremely pale, and her face glistened with sweat. Leo pulled her head into his lap, trying to keep her from going unconscious.

'I think I'm hurt.' She said, and laughed, which came out like a croak. 'I need to see P-percy Jackson.'

'Why?' Leo asked, and he almost kicked himself. _Why would you ask her that?_

'B-because.' She said weakly. 'He's my brother.' Her eyes flickered shut. Leo was caught in a moment of disbelief. Then he started yelling.

'Percy! Someone get Percy!' He saw one of the others that were standing watch rush over, another running down to the Big House, presumably getting Chiron. The figure from another side of the boarder rushed over, and Leo saw that it was Percy Jackson, the son of Poseidon.

'What? What's wrong?' Percy asked, once he was close enough.

'This girl. She came running from the trees, two furies following her. She said that she wanted to talk to you, because she's your… sister.' Percy looked at him with confusion, and rushed over, kneeling next to the girl who claimed to be his sister. He saw Percy's body tense.

'Oh my god.' He said, and he looked up. 'We need to get her to the infirmary. _Now_.' Leo wanted to ask if they could really trust her, but Percy's hard expression made him stop. Percy _believed_ her. He believed that this girl was his sister.

'Okay.' Leo said, just as Chiron rushed over, Annabeth Chase on his heels (or hooves, which ever you prefer).

'Chiron looked between the two boys, his eyes resting on Leo. 'What happened?' Leo explained everything, Chiron nodding at a few points, Annabeth gasping when Leo said that the girl believed that she was Percy's sister.

'I believe her.' Percy chimed in, and Chiron looked at Percy. 'I've… seen her before.'

'_What_?' Annabeth exclaimed, a slight hint of disbelief in her voice, probably because she was surprised that her boyfriend hadn't told her that he had met his _sister_.

'Not _personally_.' Percy explained. 'I've seen her in some of my dreams. She also-' Percy glanced at the girl, '-looks a lot like my mom.' The other three took time to register this. Chiron nodded.

'I would have to agree. Also, if Percy trusts that she is telling the truth, then I believe her as well.' Annabeth nodded.

'We have no time to waste.' Annabeth said, 'we have to get her to the infirmary before she bleeds to death.' Percy turned to his sister, a look of deep concern in his eyes. 'Firstly, Percy, you have to get the members of the Senior Counsel.' Chiron said, and Percy started to protest. 'We have to tell them about her. Annabeth, you should come as well. Leo, why don't you take this girl to the infirmary? Percy will come once we wake up the others.' Leo was about to protest, because he was positive that he wouldn't be able to carry her. But, as Leo looked up at Percy's face etched with worry, he nodded. Percy looked at his sister, then at Leo.

'Be careful with her.' He said, his sea green eyes filled with concern. Leo just nodded. At that, the three walked quickly down to the cabins, going to wake up the other members of the Senior Counsels of Camp Half-blood, which was made up of all the cabin leaders. Leo, being the leader of the Hephaestus cabin after the previous one had stepped down, was apart of the Senior Counsel. Leo quickly scooped the girl up, and walked as quickly as he could (with out dropping the girl) to the Big House. Once he got through the door, almost the whole cabin of Apollo swarmed him and the girl, taking her from him and setting her down on one of the beds in the infirmary, checking her wounds. Leo stood there, helpless, watching them bandage up Percy's sister and force-feeding her ambrosia to help her healing process. The cabin leader, Will Solace, rushed into the room, and began attempting to heal the girl's wounds.

After about twenty minutes, the panic died out, and once Will was certain that the girl was okay, they all went out of the Big House, probably to sleep. Leo entered the room and pulled a chair up to the edge of the bed.

Leo looked the girl over, and realized how pretty she was. She had jet-black hair, similar to Percy's. There were freckles dotting across her arms, shoulders, cheeks and nose. She seemed delicate, but Leo could tell that she was strong by the toned look of her arms. She had a heart-shaped face with a pointed chin and defined cheekbones. Her forehead was quite high and her nose was small and somewhat crooked, like it had been broken one too many times. Leo was studying her when Percy came running in, which brought Leo out of his daze. He looked around sheepishly, avoiding looking at both Percy and his sister.

'How is she? Did they heal her?' Percy asked, and Leo forced himself to turn and look at him.

'Yeah, the Apollo cabin fixed her up pretty good. They told me that she needed some more nectar once she woke up, which they said shouldn't be in too long.' Percy nodded, and pulled a chair up next to Leo's.

They sat there for what seemed like an hour, until, finally, the girl's eyes fluttered open. Percy had dozed off, and Leo was playing with some metal scraps from his tool belt. Leo smacked Percy's arm and he woke with a start, looking at his sister. He immediately sat on the edge of his chair, seeming to want to get as close to her as possible.

'Percy?' The girl groaned. Percy was sitting at the very edge of his chair, looking like he was about to fall off of it.

'Yeah, it's me.' He said, and a look of relief flashed across her face.

'Oh, thank the gods I found you. I'm your-'

'Sister.' Percy finished, and she slid her gaze over to Leo.

'Yes.' She said, and looked back at Percy. 'My name is Andrey. I have to tell you something. In private.' She said, looking over at me. I stood up.

'It's cool. I'll just wait outside.' Percy smiled at Leo gratefully.

'Annabeth should be here soon.' Leo nodded, walked out the door, and closed it after him.

Leo waited for what seemed like ages, listening to the murmurs of conversation from the room that Percy and Andrey were in, until he heard footsteps from the other side of the door, and Percy opened it. He looked around, presumably for Annabeth, and focused his eyes on Leo.

'We have a problem.' He said, and, as if on cue, Annabeth came bounding down the hallway towards the two boys.

'How is she? Is she awake?' Annabeth looked at Percy. 'Why are you looking at me like that?' She asked quickly.

'She's awake. But we have a problem. We have to call the Senior Counsel to a meeting, as soon as possible. Andrey's going to sleep, but she'll explain everything later.' Percy turned back into the room and started talking softly to Andrey. Annabeth looked like she was about to barge in there, but she held herself back and sighed.

Percy came out a while later, looking between Annabeth and Leo. 'She's asleep now, but I don't want to leave her alone. Would one of you mind staying?' He asked.

'I can.' Leo volunteered, and Percy smiled gratefully.

'I'll be back as soon as I can. Just… don't let anything happen to her.' He added.

'Aye, aye, captain.' Percy smirked at Leo as he left with Annabeth. Leo opened the door to the infirmary quietly and sneaked in and turned the chair that was pulled up closer to Andrey sideways so he could watch her and the door. Leo's thoughts wandered off, and he started to think about when he couldn't control himself back on the _Argo II_. Even with  
everyone telling him it wasn't his fault, he still had a guilty feeling in the pit of his stomach, slightly blaming himself for the quest going awry. Eventually, Leo fell into a deep sleep.

Leo woke up to a crash. His eyes flew open, and he cursed himself for falling asleep. His eyes darted around the room, taking in the scene. The door to the infirmary was open wide, there was shattered pieces of glass and ceramic on the floor from a broken lamp that fell from the nightstand, and there was someone leaning over Andrey's bed, strangling her as Andrey's body thrashed beneath.

Leo jumped out of his chair and quickly ran over and pulled the attacker off of Andrey, flashes of red overpowering Leo's vision. Leo walked out of the room with the attacker still in his arms, thrashing about like a monster. Leo dropped the attacker in the hallway outside of the infirmary, and, to his surprise, saw Rachel Elizabeth Dare glowering at him from the floor. Except, her usual emerald green eyes were now gold. Leo called Percy's name, hoping that he would some how hear.

'_Move out of the way, demigod. This matter does not concern you_.' Rachel said, or at least Leo _thought_ it was Rachel. But she spoke English like it was her second language, like she was unsure of the correct way to say things.

'I'm not sure if you've realized, but whenever you try to hurt someone here, it's always everyone's concern. You should know that by now.'

'_Get out of my way, you foolish boy, and let me finish killing the girl_.'

'Let me think about that.' Leo said, tapping his finger on his chin. 'No.' Rachel tried to get up, but Leo pushed her back down. 'Now tell me what's wrong with you. Are you some kind of possessing-monster thing?' Possessed-Rachel hissed at Leo. He backed away a little, guarding the door to the infirmary. Leo gulped and called for Percy again. No answer.

'I_ am an Eidolon. And my purpose is to kill Andromeda Jackson_.'

_Andromeda? _'Yeah, well I'm Leo Valdez, and my purpose is to stop you from killing Andromeda Jackson. So, if you want to get to her, you gotta go through me.' Eidolon-Rachel laughed manically.

'_You, son of Hephaestus, will never be able to stop me_.' And at that, she charged at Leo. He summoned his 3-pound Club Hammer from his tool belt and swung it at Eidolon-Rachel's head, knocking her out.

'Don't ever underestimate the power of Leo Valdez.'

'Is it gone?' A voice called from inside the infirmary. Leo turned quickly to see Andrey sitting at the edge of her bed, out of the sheets.

'Somewhat.' Leo said with a smirk, and Andrey smiled back.

'Thanks for saving me.'

'No problem.'

'But you wouldn't have had to, if you hadn't have _fallen asleep_.' She said, with a spark of mischief in her eyes. Leo was beginning to like this girl.

'Well, you were quite boring.' He replied. She smiled.

'Well being attacked by furies can do that to a person.' Leo was about to retort when Percy came running down the hallway.

'What's wrong? Why were you calling me?' He said quickly, his eyes darting around, looking like he could kick some serious butt. His eyes found Rachel's body, and his eyes went wide. He made a gasp and darted over to her.

'Rachel! Rachel! Are you okay?' He said, lightly slapping the sides of her face. Leo tried to hold in a laugh. He could imagine what Percy would have done if Leo started laughing at the sight of his best friend knocked out on the floor. Percy turned quickly to Leo. 'What happened?'

'Um. I kind of can explain that.' Leo said, and Percy frowned at Leo.

'Well?' He asked expectantly. Leo started to explain the situation as best as he could, wording it so it didn't sound like Leo had _liked_ pounding Percy's friend's head in with his hammer. He was pretty sure he succeeded, but Leo couldn't tell, because Percy had a steely expression.

'So let me get this straight. My best friend was possessed by something called a Eidolon, tried to kill my sister, and so you knocked her out cold with your hammer?'

'Pretty much.' Percy sighed, and pinched the bridge of his nose.

'I think the universe hates me.' He said miserably.

'I'm pretty sure the universe doesn't hate demigods, but smites them for just being too damn awesome.' Percy looked up and smiled.

'Well I should probably go round up the Senior Counsel.' Percy looked cautiously at the infirmary. 'Bring her safely. And try not to let possessed people strangle her.' Leo smirked and nodded.

'Will do, captain.' Leo watched Percy go, and then turned back to the infirmary. Andrey was sitting there in bed, wearing shorts that looked like they had been thrown in a dust storm. Leo realized three things then: one, that she wasn't really wearing a shirt, just bandages wrapped around her upper body; two, that she was looking at him before he had turned around; and three, she had noticed him checking her out. Leo quickly adverted his gaze, trying hard not to blush. Andrey cleared her throat.

'So, um, I don't really have a shirt to wear. Or any clean pants.' Leo forced himself to look up.

'Um, you could always borrow something from me, and then get some clothes from the Aphrodite cabin after the Senior Counsel meeting. I'm sure they wouldn't mind.'

'Really? Thanks.' She said with a warm smile. Leo smiled back.

'Well, wearing my clothes would be a lot better than going out with just bandages.' Andrey blushed.

'Probably.' They both laughed.

'Well, why don't we just quickly go to the Hephaestus cabin and grab some clothes, then.'

'Okay.' She said. Leo pulled her up from her bed, but when Andrey tried to stand, she stumbled. Leo caught her by the waist, and she straightened. She smiled at him apologetically, and put one arm around his neck. Leo guided her to his cabin, praying to any God that it was at least relatively clean.

The Gods didn't seem to be very merciful that day.

When Leo and Andrey got to the Hephaestus cabin, Leo had the sudden urge to pound in his own head in with his hammer. There were tools and metal scraps scattered everywhere throughout the cabin, and clothes strung everywhere up on beds and chairs around the room. Leo sighed. _That's what you get for having a cabin almost entirely made out of guys._

Who were, coincidently, all currently there. Most of them in their underwear. And asleep. Some hanging off their beds. Leo was suddenly glad that the cabin was somewhat dark, because if the light was on, Andrey definitely would've seen the drastic change in Leo's complexion, considering he probably looked like a tomato.

Except, instead of running away like Leo thought she would, Andrey just stood there and quietly laughed. 'It kinda reminds me of a foster home.' Leo looked at her skeptically.

'You're not grossed out or anything?' She chuckled.

'No, not really. It could use some cleaning-' She said, as she stepped over a huge chunk of metal, 'but I've seen worse.'

Leo laughed. 'You must've lived with some pretty nasty people.'

'Nah, just teenage boys.' They both laughed. Leo guided her to his bed, and was suddenly very conscious of the fact that his area was horribly messy; and that a girl - especially a pretty one - was in his bedroom (kinda). Except, when he looked at her, she didn't seem grossed out. She looked… interested.

'Are those blue prints of a dragon?' She asked, her eyes wide in wonder. Leo looked at the source of her wonder, realizing that he had left Festus' blue prints lying sprawled all over his bed before he left to do border patrol.

'Er yeah. I have a metal dragon that sort of got cut to shreds in King Midas' palace. And it's head is now the masthead of the _Argo II_, which is the trireme built by the Hephaestus cabin.' Andrey looked at him curiously. 'It's a long story.'

She picked up a pile of papers from my bed and sat down. 'I have time.' Leo chuckled.

'I'll tell you later, when there aren't any half-naked guys around us. And you have a shirt on.' Andrey looked down and blushed.

'That's probably a good idea.' She said sheepishly. Leo walked over to his trunk and tried to sort through his clothes. The problem was, everything was messed up and stuffed into it, so it was impossible to find anything. He heard Andrey walk over, and tried to at least somewhat clean up his trunk. She stopped and stood next to him, taking in the mess. He looked at her, thinking that she'd have a face of disgust on. Except all he saw was Andrey, her eyes darting, filled with curiosity as she scanned the items in his trunk, presumably looking for something to wear. He looked at her in wonder, until she looked up. Leo quickly stared down into his trunk. Andrey looked down a moment later.

'I think this will do.' She said, as she knelt down and held up one of Leo's shirts, which was a green v-neck. Leo nodded, and she slid it over her head. It hung out from her body, as it was a little too big for her. He looked into her eyes, which were sea green, like they changed colour to match the shirt. Leo realized he was staring and looked away quickly.

'Er… so. You still need some shorts, right?' Leo asked, scratching the back of his neck.

'Yeah, but I'm not sure that yours would fit me. You being so big and all.' She said jokingly. Leo looked up and smirked.

'Or maybe you're just too damn small.' Her eyes widened and she opened her mouth in an O shape. She put her hand over her heart.

'I am offended.' She said sarcastically. She broke into a smile. 'But seriously, I don't think your fancy Counsel would want me there in dirty, ripped shorts.' Leo chuckled softly and nodded.

'We can just borrow some from one of my cabin mates, Nyssa. She won't mind.' Leo strode over to Nyssa's trunk, Andrey reluctantly following him. He looked back at her and rolled his eyes. 'Don't worry, if she gets mad, blame it on me.'

'Okay.' Andrey sighed. Leo opened the trunk and took out some denim shorts, making sure not to mess up the neat order of Nyssa's trunk. He threw them to Andrey. She did a circle with her fingers, motioning him to turn around. Leo rolled his eyes, but followed her orders.

'Okay let's get this show on the road.' She said, grabbing Leo by the back of his shirt and leading him to the door.

The walk back to the Big House wasn't as eventful as the rest of the night: sense it was still pretty early in the morning; there was barely anybody out anyway. Andrey stopped after a minute of looking around outside my cabin.

'Um, so where do we go to meet your fancy Counsel again?' She said, turning to me. I smirked at her.

'In that big building over there, in the activity room.' I replied, and she nodded, and continued leading me there, her hand still on my forearm. We got to the Big House a few minutes after that, succumbed in the silence of the still-sleeping camp. When we walked in, Andrey headed for the door labeled 'Activities Room'. We could hear loud voices coming from inside the room, and Andrey looked at me and shrugged. When she opened the door, the whole room erupted in silence, everybody looking at Andrey.

'So this is the girl who's supposed to _save us all_?' Said Clarisse, the head of the Ares cabin, who was a big, burly girl with brown hair and a permanent look of adversary in her eyes. He looked to Percy, who rolled his eyes.

'I didn't exactly word it like _that_, Clarisse. Don't be rude.'

'Well, why don't you explain to us exactly how it is that your sister some how found Camp and decided it was a good idea to bring _Furies here_?' Clarisse retorted angrily.

'Oh yeah, cause I totally wanted those Furies chasing after me and shredding my back. Cause, you know, I do that kind of shit for fun.' Andrey said sarcastically. Clarisse turned to her, with a look of hatred. Percy shot Andrey a warning look, and she just shrugged. The Stoll brothers started chuckling, and Annabeth shot them a look.

'Clarisse, blaming Andrey for bringing Furies to the camp is totally irrational. Of course she didn't mean to bring them here, why, for the love of the gods, would she ever do that? Plus, Percy's told me that she has something to tell us. So I think we should listen to her.'

'Me too.' I agreed, and I could feel Clarisse glaring at me. 'I think we need to at least hear her out.' Andrey smiled at me.

'What Andrey told me will seriously change the way we need to go about things. Mostly concerning our quest.' Percy said. Everybody turned their attention to Andrey, who shifted uneasily.

'Well. I know this sounds kind of strange, but a lot of the demigods that I've encountered over the years have said that weird things come into demigod's dreams. And… you can say that the stuff that comes to me in my dreams are a little more strange.' Her eyes darted to Percy, who gave her an encouraging nod. I grabbed her hand and gave her an encouraging squeeze, which she returned. She cleared her throat and continued: 'Well. For the past few months, I've been having this dream about a girl, who has a really weird get-up. And trust me, when I say weird, I mean like carnival fortune-teller weird. She had this really weird deep, raspy voice. Anyway. She always tells me that I need to find Percy Jackson and Camp Half-Blood, because my destiny is intertwined with the quest of seven. I obviously had no idea what she meant by the quest, but I had heard from some on-the-run demigods that there was a place for us to hide safely. So I came here, whilst being attacked by Furies, and tada! Here we are.' Everybody, including me, looked at her in disbelief and wonder.

'So you're saying that a girl - who sounds _a lot_ like the resident oracle - told you that you had something to do with the quest of seven?' Clarisse demanded. Andrey nodded cautiously. Annabeth sighed.

'Also. Probably one important detail: I'm absolutely sure that the girl in my dreams, the 'oracle' as you call her, was the one that tried to strangle me in my sleep.' With that, the room went into an uproar, with people demanding information (mostly Clarisse) and people asking what in the Zeus Andrey meant by our oracle strangling her.

'QUIET!' Chiron exclaimed. The room fell silent. 'Speak with rational minds. Obviously Rachel would never purposely strangle a demigod in her sleep. At least with out a good reason. I've been informed that Rachel is indeed awake from a certain mishap-' Chiron's eyes darted quickly towards me, 'so I decided to fetch her and bring her here.'

The girl who was strangling Andrey in her sleep just an hour ago, Rachel Elizabeth Dare, stood before me. She glanced at Andrey, smiling at her. Andrey's body tensed, and my hand flew to my hammer. But Rachel didn't seem to want to kill Andrey anymore, so I relaxed.

'Andrey is right. Despite the strange mishap with her just an hour ago, I did bring her here because she is extremely important to the quest at hand. I got visions just a few months ago, telling me that the quest of seven is, in fact, a quest of nine.' The whole room, including Andrey, looked at her in shock. 'I got a new prophecy, in addition to the prophecy of seven, stating so.'

'So you're telling me that the prophecy of seven is a prophecy of _nine_, and you had known this for a few months and didn't tell us? And then brought a girl here because she's one of the additions to the prophecy? _And you didn't tell us_?' Clarisse exclaimed, but Rachel just looked at her with a smirk on her face.

'Yes. I obviously couldn't tell you until the precise moment, and until I got Andrey here, or there would be a huge debate on who got to go, even though the prophecy says different.'

'So what does the addition to the prophecy say?' Annabeth asked.

'The prophecy states:

_Before there were seven, now there are nine,_

_The Prophecy at hand now inclines:_

_One, who was met in a dream,_

_A daughter of Poseidon now added to the seam:_

_Yet this one is not how she seems._

_The curse of Aphrodite leaves a target on her head,_

_Leaving one of the nine dead:_

_And one, who will bring light upon the quest,_

_A Daughter of Apollo who will bring peace upon the rest:_

_To achieve the goal of closing the doors of death._'

Everyone sat on the edges of their seats, hanging at Rachel's every word. When she finished, everyone stared at each other in shock, repeatedly glancing at Andrey, trying to interpret the prophecy in their heads, and Andrey's involvement.

'So, you're saying that you found the daughter of _Poseidon_, who is cursed by _Aphrodite_, of all people, but you haven't found one simple Apollo demigod yet?' Clarisse demanded to Rachel.

'Well, you'd be surprised how hard it is nowadays to find demigods. Especially one that is a pyrokinetic.'

'Pyrofanetic?' Connor Stoll asked. Rachel rolled her eyes.

'Pyrokinetic. It's the power of controlling fire. Our friend Leo here has it, and it can be possessed by children of both Hephaestus and Apollo.'

'How do you know that the Apollo kid in the prophecy has it?' Connor's twin, Travis, asked.

'The mention of bringing light upon the quest. I've been thinking about the prophecy for a long time-' Clarisse snorted, presumably about Rachel knowing about the prophecy before-hand, 'and I've been able to interpret most of the hidden meanings in the prophecy, except for some minor details.' Her eyes darted quickly to Andrey, and then back to the Counsel.

'That's all fine and good, but can Andrey please explain why the prophecy states that she has a curse of Aphrodite? Cause the Aphrodite cabin would like to be informed.' asked Piper McLean, the Aphrodite cabin leader. Leo looked down at Andrey, whose eyes were trained to the ground.

'Well, it means that I have a curse from Aphrodite on me. No big deal. It doesn't really mean much.' She said, all too quickly. Piper looked at her with suspicion.

'My mom never puts a curse on someone for no reason. And her curses are never a 'no big deal', either. She's mental, but she's my mom.' Andrey looked up at Piper, with spite in her eyes.

'Well then maybe you should ask your mom, cause I'm sure as hell not giving children of Aphrodite my back story.' Andrey snapped. Piper didn't give Andrey a look of anger, just suspicion, and sat back down.

'Fine. All I'm saying is that if it puts one of us in danger, it's on you.' A flash of rage crossed Andrey's face, but, for a moment, Leo could've sworn he saw a look of sadness flash in Andrey's eyes.

'It won't, so keep your thoughts to yourself.' Percy cleared his throat.

'So, is everyone fine with Andrey continuing on as apart of the nine?' He interrupted, and everyone slowly nodded, even Clarisse and Piper. 'Good. Now all we need to do is find the child of Apollo.'

'Yeah, cause the Daughter of Apollo's just going to fall right out of the sky-' Andrey started sarcastically, and then there was a sudden crash right outside the Big House, accompanied by a jolt of the house. Andrey looked up at me with confusion, and they all rushed outside, to find Apollo's prized possession, his convertible car sun chariot, crashed right into the side of the Big House. A tall girl, with pale skin, which was patched with black marks from soot; and golden blonde hair, which stuck out at every angle; stumbled out of the car.

'Holy Zeus.' She said, staring at the car and running her right hand through her wild hair, 'Dad's gonna kill me!' Will Solace, the Apollo cabin leader, looked at the girl with confusion and frustration.

'No shit Sherlock. That's his favourite car!' The girl turned to him, with anger in her eyes.

'Well you're not exactly helping by standing there, you dipshit!' The girl yelled at Will, and everybody gasped. Will rolled his eyes.

'Guys, meet Alina, the daughter of Apollo, and my step-sister.' I turned to Andrey.

'You didn't tell me you were psychic.'

'Oh shut up.' She replied, punching me in the arm. Alina stumbled towards the group.

'Oh my god, you're on fire!' Piper exclaimed, and Alina just looked down to her arm, which was engulfed in flames.

'Eh, don't worry about it. It doesn't hurt, or burn. It just kind of… sits there.' She said, with a smile.

'Our lives are seriously crazy.' I said, I looking down at Andrey. She nodded in agreement.


	2. Chapter 2

II

ANDREY

Andrey can only remember flashes of her journey over to the Camp. Actually, to tell you the truth, all she really remember is running. She remembers the feel of the wind whipping against her skin, making her hair fly back off her shoulders; she remembers the burning in her lungs; and she remembers the ache in her legs that slowly turned numb. But the thing she remembers most is the screeching of the Furies.

If someone ever asked Andrey why the Furies were following her, she wouldn't be able to answer. Because one second, she was in a pick-up that she had hitchhiked, and then suddenly, Furies ripped the top of the cab open and were grabbing for her. She could hear screaming coming from the driver, and she opened the side door and leaped out onto the grass landing beside the highway. Andrey didn't have time enough to catch her breath before the Furies were on her trail: so she scrambled up as quickly as she could and ran for her dear life.

Andrey doesn't know exactly how long she ran until she saw a figure standing on a hill, which had pine trees scattered everywhere. But the thing that stood out the most was the lone pine tree at the top of the hill, just like the others had described it. Before the Furies could get closer, she trudged up the hill towards the figure.

When she got to the top, she looked at the figure sternly, expecting them to move. she slammed into the person, taking them completely off guard. She backed off, and through her adrenaline rush, she saw a guy, around her age. He was a little taller than her, so he could look slightly down at her. She hated when people did that, and she fixed a glare on him. There wasn't much time, and she really needed to find Percy.

'What the name of Zeus are you doing just standing there?' Andrey shouted angrily. 'Do you just stand there when furies are chasing after _you_?' The boy spluttered. Irritation shot through me like a bullet. She groaned. 'Could you move, please? You're kind of in her way.' She tried to side step him, until he caught her by the shoulder.

'Where are you going?' He asked. She rolled her eyes, shooting him a look of frustration.

'Where do you think? Into the camp. I need to talk to one of the demigods.' He looked at her suspiciously, still keeping his hand on her shoulder.

'Look, just tell me who you want to talk to.' She made an irritated noise.

'I don't have any time! I need to speak to him now!' She yelled, and tried to pry his big, stupid hand away from her shoulder. He tightened his grip.

'Who?' She looked up into his face, trying to project her anger. He stared into her eyes, just a little longer than necessary. She wanted to back away, but she didn't want to show weakness to this idiot.

'Just. Let. Me. Go!' She exclaimed, and she clawed his hands off of her shoulder and shoved him as hard as she could. She started storming off, but her legs started to get weak. Suddenly, she felt a pain in her back that she had never felt before: it was as if someone had poured acid all over it. Andrey crumpled to the ground and groaned from the pain, shooting its way along her back. She could faintly see the boy scramble up, running to her and kneeling down. He lifted her head, setting it down in his lap. She felt like her brain was going as slowly as possible, like as if someone had put an excessive amount of maple syrup in it.

'I think I'm hurt.' She managed to say, and she laughed, but her throat twisted the sound, making it come out like a croak. 'I need to see P-percy Jackson.'

'Why?' He asked. She knows she would've normally been irritated at such a stupid question, but her back hurt too much to be angry. And his lap was too comfy.

'B-because.' She said, as the edges of her vision started going blurry. 'He's my brother.'

And then everything went dark.

Andrey slowly opened her eyes, feeling as though someone had glued them shut with super glue. She looked around, and she immediately panicked: she had no idea where she was, or why pain shot up her back whenever she moved. Her eyes found two people sitting in chairs pulled up to the side of her bed: a boy with messy black hair and tanned skin, who was asleep; and the boy from the hill, who was playing with scraps of metal. The boy from the hill looked up at her, and then smacked the other boy on the chest, waking him up abruptly. His sea green eyes darted around, landing on her. She immediately recognized those eyes, because she stares at identical ones in the mirror everyday.

'Percy?' She groaned. Percy was sitting at the very edge of his chair, looking like he was about to fall off of it.

'Yeah, it's me.' He said, and relief flowed through me.

'Oh, thank the gods I found you. I'm your-'

'Sister.' Percy finished, and Andrey slid her gaze to the boy from the hill.

'Yes.' She said, and looked back at Percy. 'My name is Andrey. I have to tell you something. In private.' She looked over at the boy again, and he stood up.

'It's cool. I'll just wait outside.' Percy smiled at him gratefully.

'Annabeth should be here soon.' The boy nodded, walked out the door, and closed it after him. Her eyes followed him as he walked out. She turned her gaze back to Percy.

'Percy. I know you've seen me in your dreams, because I've seen you in mine.' He was about to speak, but she interrupted him. 'I've also seen other people, and they constantly told me that I needed to find you and Camp Half-Blood. I had heard from some on-the-run demigods that there was a place for us to hide safely, and that you'd be there.' She chuckled a little. 'Because apparently you're some kind of famous demigod or something.'

He looked at her with fake hurt in his eyes. 'I thought at least my sister would believe I was famous.' They both laughed. 'But… one question. How are you my sister, and we're the same age? I mean, you are sixteen, right?'

'Well, there is such a thing called twins, where two babies come out of the same woman on the same day.' She replied sarcastically. He rolled his eyes.

'Yeah, but if you're her twin, why didn't we grow up together?' Andrey looked down, not wanting to answer. 'Where were you for the last seventeen years?' He asked, in a slightly hurt tone. She looked up, tears threatening to come. She blinked them away quickly.

'I don't really know the whole story, cause I haven't been able to speak to Mom.' She said, flinching at the word "Mom". The truth was: she was too scared to do anything but to watch their mom from a distance. 'But I know that she sent me away when I was little to protect us.' Or, at least, that's what Andrey would like to believe. 'And I ended up in foster care.' She said, in a quiet voice. His face went slack.

'Our Mom put you in foster care? Why not me instead?' She shook her head, unable to answer. The truth was, when she found out that Percy existed, she wondered about that every night – why would her Mom ever give her up instead of him? Did she not want her for some reason? Andrey was jealous of Percy for a long time, until she realized that being mad and jealous at him would never fill the hole she had in her heart.

'I honestly don't know. All I know is that she didn't intend for me to be in foster care, because I was left at a church. But child services came and took me. I was put in foster care, and I stayed there until I was twelve. I ran away when I accidently exploded the toilet, which earned me this.' She lifted her arm and turned it over, exposing a small circle right below the crease in her elbow. Percy's breath hitched.

'They did that to you?' He said, anger seeping through his words. Andrey shrugged.

'Yeah, it's not that big of a deal.' He gave her a stern look. She dropped her arm back to her side. 'It was a long time ago, and I ran away anyway, so it doesn't matter. Plus, I was claimed by our dad right after that anyway.' Percy shook his head.

'I don't understand why Mom would've done that. She must've known how bad it would be.' He said, confusion in his eyes. 'Why wasn't it me? It should've been me.' He said, looking down. Andrey put her hand on his arm.

'Hey, don't blame yourself. Or Mom. She did what she had to do, and so did I. I survived, and that's all that matters.' She said, and he looked up. She smiled at him, and he shot forward, wrapping her in a hug. Her arms hung limp for a few seconds, like she had somehow forgotten how to hug someone. She lifted them up, wrapping her arms around his neck. She squeezed lightly, feeling a sort of warmth she haven't felt since Sam died. She let go first, and he let go slowly, smiling at her as he did so.

'I'm glad that you're here.' He said.

'Why? So you can be a protective brother?' She replied jokingly.

'Ha-ha. No, but seriously. I am.' She nodded.

'I know. Me too.' He smiled.

'So, what was the emergency you needed to talk about?' He asked. Andrey wanted to yelled at herself. She couldn't believe that she got distracted enough to forget why she was here.

'Right. So, when I said other people appeared in her dreams, I wasn't only referring to other demigods, but to other girl. She has ginger-hair, a weird hippy get-up and a really creepy, raspy voice.' Percy's eyes went wide.

'I know who you're describing. What did she say to you in your dreams?'

'Well, she - along with other people - told me that I needed to find you, because my destiny is intertwined with the Prophecy of Seven.' Percy's eyes got bigger, if that were possible.

'The Prophecy of Seven?' He croaked. 'What about it?'

'I don't know exactly, she just said I was in it somehow.' He put his head in his hands.

'Great. That's great.' He groaned.

'What? What's wrong?' Andrey asked.

'We need to tell this to the Senior Counsel.' She looked at him in confusion. 'A Counsel of the cabin leaders.' She nodded in understanding.

'Okay, so I'll have to tell this to them too?'

'Yeah, but you should probably get some sleep first. You look pretty pale.' He said, worry in his voice.

'Sounds good. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine.' She said smiling. He smiled back.

'Stay here for a second, I need to find Annabeth.' She nodded, and he walked out. Andrey could hear him talking to the boy from the hill, but their voices were too soft to make out. A minute later, a girl - presumably Annabeth - came running to the door. Annabeth was a tall, with straight, blonde hair and gray eyes. Percy looked back at Andrey quickly, and closed the door.

_Great._ Andrey thought. _I'm the topic of their conversation, and I can't even hear what they're saying. And I can't get up, cause I feel like shit._ She groaned. A few minutes later, Percy walked in.

'Okay, I'm going to round up the Counsel and tell them as much as I know before you come in. Just… get better, okay?' He said, and Andrey nodded. He smiled and walked out.

She settled herself in her bed, and her back ached as she laid down. She was falling asleep just as someone walked in, and through her sleep deprived vision she saw the boy from the hill pull up a chair closer to her bed, looking at me weirdly. But before she could've said anything, she fell into a deep sleep.

Andrey woke up to the sound of the door opening, and when she looked up, all she could see was a figure in the shadows, with red hair and glowing gold eyes. The figure walked swiftly towards her. Before she could get her body to move, the figure's hands wrapped around her neck, blocking her windpipe. She gagged and gasped, writhing beneath the figure and clawing at their hands. She saw a flash of their face under their red mass of hair and recognized the girl immediately: it was the girl from her dreams. Andrey's eyes widened, and the girl's grip tightened. Andrey let out a gargling scream, trying to wake up the boy from the hill. Andrey kicked the girl in the stomach, the girl's grip loosening for a moment. Andrey tried to reach for the lamp beside her, but it fell, making a loud crash. Then the girl was on Andrey again, her grip tighter than before. Suddenly, a hand grabbed the girl by the back of her shirt and hauled her off of Andrey.

Once the girl was off of Andrey, Andrey gasped for air, breathing in and out quickly, trying to fight off the urge to gag. She coughed and spluttered, putting one arm to her chest and another to her throat, trying to slow her breathing. She could hear crashes outside, and loud voices, but her ears didn't register them. She was too busy focusing on slowing her breaths and getting as much oxygen into her body as possible.

She looked to the doorframe just as the boy from the hill drew out a massive hammer from his belt and pounded the girl in the face, knocking her out. Andrey would've laughed if her heart wasn't beating so fast. She scrambled out of her sheets, sitting on the edge of her bed.

'Is it gone?' She called out, and the boy from the hill turned to her.

'Somewhat.' He said with a smirk, and she smiled back.

'Thanks for saving me.'

'No problem.'

'But you wouldn't have had to, if you hadn't have _fallen asleep_.' She said, trying to break the ice.

'Well, you were quite boring.' He replied. Andrey smiled.

'Well being attacked by furies can do that to a person.' He made a face, and looked like he was about to retort when Percy came running down the hallway.

'What's wrong? Why were you calling me?' He said quickly, his eyes darting around. His eyes found Rachel's body, and his eyes went wide. He made a gasp and darted over to her. Andrey listened into their conversation with curiosity.

'Rachel! Rachel! Are you okay?' He said, lightly slapping the sides of her face. 'What happened?'

'Um. I kind of can explain that.' The boy said, and Percy frowned at him. Andrey tried to hold in a laugh.

'Well?' He asked expectantly. The boy told Percy the whole situation, and Percy looked at him in a suspiciously calm demeanor.

'So let me get this straight. My best friend was possessed by something called a Eidolon, tried to kill my sister, and so you knocked her out cold with your hammer?' Andrey hid her smile with her hands, and tried to hold down the laugh that was bubbling inside of her.

'Pretty much.' Percy sighed, and pinched the bridge of his nose.

'I think the universe hates me.' He said miserably.

'I'm pretty sure the universe doesn't hate demigods, but smites them for just being too damn awesome.' Andrey rolled her eyes, chuckling softly into her sheets.

'Well I should probably go round up the Senior Counsel.' Percy looked cautiously at Andrey. She couldn't hear exactly what he said, because it was too faint. But he was probably telling the boy to take care of her, cause he nodded.

'Will do, captain.' He watched Percy go, and then turned back to the infirmary. She took him in, her eyes gliding over his features. He was tall (well, at least taller than _her_, but that's not such a huge defeat, because she's pretty short); with caramel skin; messy, curly, dark hair; big, dark brown eyes that seemed to burn with a constant mischievous manner; and a small, pointed, angled face. She realized she was staring, and that he was staring back at her. She looked down, clearing her throat awkwardly.

_ You don't even know his name. _She scolded herself.

'So, um, I don't really have a shirt to wear. Or any clean pants.' He looked up.

'Um, you could always borrow something from me, and then get some clothes from the Aphrodite cabin after the Senior Counsel meeting. I'm sure they wouldn't mind.'

'Really? Thanks.' She said with a warm smile. He smiled back.

'Well, wearing my clothes would be a lot better than going out with just bandages.' Andrey felt the warmth of a blush cross her cheeks.

'Probably.' They both laughed.

'Well, why don't we just quickly go to the Hephaestus cabin and grab some clothes, then.'

'Okay.' She said. He pulled her up from her bed, but when she tried to stand, pain shot through her back, and she stumbled. He caught her by the waist, and she straightened, trying to suppress the weird feeling of nervousness go through her. She shook her head slightly. _Stop it_, she scolded herself. _You can't start feeling that way, you idiot._ She smiled at him apologetically, and put one arm around his neck. He guided her to his cabin, whilst she constantly tried to bury her feelings.

When they got to the cabin, Andrey wanted to laugh at the boy's expression. He looked totally mortified, and was trying to hide it. She suppressed her laughter, trying to at least spare him from embarrassment. She looked around, and metal was all over the floor, along with clothes. She noticed with amusement that there were a bunch of guys hanging off of their beds, mostly half naked. She quietly laughed at the whole scene, remembering how the rooms in foster homes looked, especially the ones of the teenagers.

'It kinda reminds me of a foster home.' He looked at her weirdly, probably questioning her sanity.

'You're not grossed out or anything?' He asked with confusion. She laughed a little harder.

'No, not really. It could use some cleaning-' She said, stepping over a huge chunk of metal, 'but I've seen worse.'

He laughed. 'You must've lived with some pretty nasty people.'

'Nah, just teenage boys.' They both laughed. He guided her to his bed. It was sort of messy, but not as messy as the rest of the room. She looked around, taking in the scraps of metal and the pieces of paper strewn all over the bed, and realized that the pieces of paper were blue prints. Of some sort of a metal… dragon?

'Are those blue prints of a dragon?' She asked, looking up at him. She noticed that he had been looking at her in wonder, which made her stomach retract with nervousness.

_Gods, I'm so useless. _

'Er yeah. I have a metal dragon that sort of got cut to shreds in King Midas' palace. And it's head is now the masthead of the _Argo II_, which is the trireme built by the Hephaestus cabin.' Andrey looked at him with a mix of confusion and curiosity. 'It's a long story.'

She picked up a pile of papers from his bed and sat down. 'I have time.' He chuckled.

'I'll tell you later, when there aren't any half-naked guys around us. And you have a shirt on.' Waving at both the room and her get-up. She looked down and blushed.

'That's probably a good idea.' Andrey replied sheepishly. He walked over to his trunk, and she followed a minute later, as he quickly tried clean up his trunk. She stopped and stood next to him. Her eyes darted through the contents of the trunk, her mind sparking with curiosity as she tried to find something to wear. She looked up to see him staring down at her, with a strange look on his face. His eyes quickly darted down to his trunk. She looked down a moment later, her gaze falling on a green v-neck t-shirt.

'I think this will do.' She said, as she knelt down and held up the shirt. He nodded, and she quickly slid it over her head. It hung out from her body, but despite it being a bit too big for her, it was warm and smelled faintly of burning wood and pine needles.

He looked into her eyes, and SHE stared back into his brown ones, who were dark brown, but had a spark in them, like fire. He was the one to look down first, and she stared at him expectantly.

'Er… so. You still need some shorts, right?' He asked, scratching the back of his neck.

'Yeah, but I'm not sure that yours would fit me. You being so big and all.' She said jokingly, gesturing at him with her hands. He laughed.

'Or maybe you're just too damn small.' She immediately widened her eyes and opened her mouth in an O shape, putting a hand over her heart.

'I am offended.' Andrey replied. Laughter bubbled inside her again, and she broke into a smile. 'But seriously, I don't think your fancy Counsel would want me there in dirty, ripped shorts.' He chuckled softly and nodded.

'We can just borrow some from one of my cabin mates, Nyssa. She won't mind.' He strode over to Nyssa's trunk, with her reluctantly following behind him. Andrey was unsure if the girl would want her wearing her clothes… if some of her clothes went missing, she'd be pretty pissed. He looked back at her and rolled his eyes. 'Don't worry, if she gets mad, blame it on me.'

'Okay.' Andrey sighed, deciding to give in. Don't get the wrong idea: she doesn't like stealing. She just really needed some pants. He opened the trunk, took out some denim shorts and threw them at her. She did a circle with her fingers, motioning him to turn around. She was confidant, but not _that_ confidant. He rolled his eyes, but did it anyway. She quickly slipped on the shorts, which fit surprisingly well.

'Okay let's get this show on the road.' She said, and grabbed his hand.

Once they got to the Big House, where the Counsel was meeting, the boy and Andrey just stood outside the door of the Activity Room, listening to the loud voices coming from the room. Her stomach writhed with nervousness, but she suppressed it and stepped into the room, which had gone completely silent as soon as she stepped in.

'So this is the girl who's supposed to _save us all_?' Said a big, burly girl with brown hair.

'I didn't exactly word it like _that_, Clarisse. Don't be rude.' Percy snapped, rolling his eyes.

'Well, why don't you explain to us exactly how it is that your sister some how found Camp and decided it was a good idea to bring _Furies here_?' Clarisse retorted angrily.

'Oh yeah, cause I totally wanted those Furies chasing after me and shredding her back. Cause, you know, I do that kind of shit for fun.' Andrey retorted, anger shooting through her. She _hates_ when people falsely accuse her. Dealing with foster families definitely taught her to fight back. Clarisse turned to her with a look of hatred. Andrey kept eye contact, and tried to keep her anger in check. Percy shot her a warning look, and she shrugged, trying to look nonchalant whilst anger was clawing at her like a wild animal.

'Clarisse, blaming Andrey for bringing Furies to the camp is totally irrational. Of course she didn't mean to bring them here. Why, for the love of the gods, would she ever do that? Plus, Percy's told me that she has something to tell us. So I think we should listen to her.' The blonde girl, Annabeth, said. Andrey was surprised that she was defending her, but Annabeth seemed pretty close to Percy.

'Me too.' The boy from the hill agreed. 'I think we need to at least hear her out.' She looked up at him and smiled, which he returned.

'What Andrey told me will seriously change the way we need to go about things. Mostly concerning our quest.' Percy said. Everybody turned their attention to Andrey, and her anger quickly turned into nervousness. Being in the spot light really isn't her 'thing'. She groaned inwardly and tried to explain the situation as best as she could. When she was finished, everybody (including the boy) was staring at her in disbelief.

'So you're saying that a girl - who sounds _a lot_ like the resident oracle - told you that you had something to do with the quest of seven?' Clarisse demanded. Andrey nodded cautiously, hoping that she could somehow convince them she's not as crazy as they obviously think she is.

'Also. Probably one important detail: I'm absolutely sure that the girl in her dreams - the 'oracle' as you call her - was the one that tried to strangle me in her sleep.' With that, the room went into an uproar, with people demanding information (mostly Clarisse) and people asking what in the Zeus Andrey meant by the oracle strangling her. She heard the clomping of hooves behind her and turned. What she saw was both confusing and completely impossible: a half man half horse, who had a very stern look on his face and seemed highly important. Andrey stepped out of the way, stumbling over the boy beside her.

'QUIET!' The horseman exclaimed. The room fell silent. 'Speak with rational minds. Obviously Rachel would never purposely strangle a demigod in her sleep. At least with out a good reason. I've been informed that Rachel is indeed awake from a certain mishap-' His eyes darted quickly towards the boy, 'so I decided to fetch her and bring her here.'

The girl, Rachel, stood before Andrey. She glanced at Andrey, smiling warmly. Andrey's whole body tensed, which she knew was stupid, but she could still feel Rachel's hands on her neck.

'Andrey is right. Despite the strange mishap with her just an hour ago, I did bring her here because she is extremely important to the quest at hand. I got visions just a few months ago, telling me that the quest of seven is, in fact, a quest of nine.' The whole room looked at her in shock. 'I got a new prophecy, in addition to the prophecy of seven, stating so.'

'So you're telling me that the prophecy of seven is a prophecy of _nine_, and you had known this for a few months and didn't tell us? And then brought a girl here because she's one of the additions to the prophecy? _And you didn't tell us_?' Clarisse exclaimed, but Rachel just looked at Clarisse with a smirk. A laugh was hitched in Andrey's chest, but she suppressed it, as she was sure that Clarisse would pummel her if she did.

'Yes. I obviously couldn't tell you until the precise moment, and until I got Andrey here, or there would be a huge debate on who got to go, even though the prophecy says different.'

'So what does the addition to the prophecy say?' Annabeth asked.

'The prophecy states:

_Before there were seven, now there are nine,_

_The Prophecy at hand now inclines:_

_One, who was met in a dream,_

_A daughter of Poseidon now added to the seam:_

_Yet this one is not how she seems._

_The curse of Aphrodite leaves a target on her head,_

_Leaving one of the nine dead:_

_And one, who will bring light upon the quest,_

_A Daughter of Apollo who will bring peace upon the rest:_

_To achieve the goal of closing the doors of death._'

After Rachel was finished, Andrey just stood there in total shock. All she could think about was her curse: and that Rachel knew about it. She wanted to scream, but she kept her face twisted in confusion rather than in frustration.

'So, you're saying that you found the daughter of _Poseidon_, who is cursed by _Aphrodite_, of all people, but you haven't found one simple Apollo demigod yet?' Clarisse demanded.

'Well, you'd be surprised how hard it is nowadays to find demigods. Especially one that is a pyrokinetic.'

'Pyrofanetic?' A boy asked. Rachel rolled her eyes.

'Pyrokinetic. It's the power of controlling fire. Our friend Leo here has it, and it can be possessed by children of both Hephaestus and Apollo.' Andrey looked up at Leo, realizing for the first time that she hadn't known his name until now. It seemed to suit him somehow.

'How do you know that the Apollo kid in the prophecy has it?' Another boy, presumably the "pyrofanetic" kid's twin.

'The mention of bringing light upon the quest. I've been thinking about the prophecy for a long time-' Clarisse snorted, 'and I've been able to interpret most of the hidden meanings in the prophecy, except for some minor details.' Her eyes darted quickly to me, and then back to the Counsel. Andrey's heart sped up, as she knew exactly what she was confused about.

'That's all fine and good, but can Andrey please explain why the prophecy states that she has a curse of Aphrodite? Cause the Aphrodite cabin would like to be informed.' asked a girl, who had short, cropped hair with an eagle's feather braided into it. Andrey assumed that she was the Aphrodite cabin leader. Leo looked down at Andrey. She looked down, trying to suppress the anger from before, which now felt like it was literally burning inside of her. She looked up, trying to level her voice.

'Well, it means that I have a curse from Aphrodite on me. No big deal. It doesn't really mean much.' She said, trying to sound nonchalant. The Aphrodite girl looked at her with suspicion.

'My mom never puts a curse on someone for no reason. And her curses are never a 'no big deal', either. She 's mental, but she's my mom.' Andrey looked up into the girl's eyes, her anger burning even more.

'Well then maybe you should ask your mom, cause I'm sure as hell not giving children of Aphrodite my back story.' She snapped, suddenly aware of how far it would take for her to jump and strangle the girl.

'Fine. All I'm saying is that if it puts one of us in danger, it's on you.' Andrey's anger burned to rage, which writhed and clawed in her chest and her throat, her brain immediately going through the ways she could possibly make her hurt more than how much she hurt when Sam died. Her mind switched to memories of Sam for a few seconds, sorrow replacing the anger. Andrey looked up at her, and her suspicion just brought back her anger.

'It won't, so keep your thoughts to yourself.' Percy cleared his throat.

'So, is everyone fine with Andrey continuing on as apart of the nine?' He interrupted, and everyone slowly nodded, even Clarisse and the Aphrodite girl. 'Good. Now all we need to do is find the child of Apollo.'

'Yeah, cause the Daughter of Apollo's just going to fall right out of the sky-' Andrey started sarcastically, and then there was a sudden crash right outside the Big House, accompanied by a jolt. Andrey looked up at Leo in confusion, and suddenly they all rushed outside. A convertible car was crashed right into the side of the Big House, absolutely totaled. A tall girl, with pale skin, which was patched with black marks from soot; and golden blonde hair, which stuck out at every angle; stumbled out of the car.

'Holy Zeus.' She said, staring at the car and running her right hand through her wild hair. 'Dad's gonna kill me!' A guy, who had similar features to the car-girl, looked at the girl with confusion and frustration.

'No shit Sherlock. That's his favourite car!' The girl turned to him with anger in her eyes.

'Well you're not exactly helping by standing there, you dipshit!' The girl yelled at him, and everybody gasped. Andrey tried to suppress a laugh, because this was the first time she had heard people swear here. The guy rolled his eyes.

'Guys, meet Alina, the daughter of Apollo, my step-sister.' Leo turned to me, with fake shock on his face. Andrey braced herself for a snarky remark.

'You didn't tell me you were psychic.'

'Oh shut up.' She said, rolling her eyes slightly and punching him in the arm. Alina stumbled towards the group.

'Oh my god, you're on fire!' The Aphrodite girl exclaimed, and Alina just looked down to her arm, which was engulfed in flames.

'Eh, don't worry about it. It doesn't hurt, or burn. It just kind of… sits there.' She said, with a smile.

'Our lives are seriously crazy.' Leo said to Andrey. She nodded in agreement.

'No kidding. I mean, I thought foster homes were crazy, until I came here.' Leo laughed. Alina's brother, who Leo told me was named Will Solace (_Solace._ Seriously, Apollo?), guided her back to the Big House, probably to check for wounds. Everybody dispersed, looking extremely sleep deprived.

All except for Leo, who was bouncing around, his hand gripping Andrey's forearm as he gave her a tour of the Camp. He stopped abruptly, making her jolt back.

'What's wrong?' Andrey asked, her eyes darting.

'I just realized we've never been properly introduced.' He said. She rolled her eyes.

'We both know what each other's names are. What's the big deal?' She asked, and he pierced his lips at her.

'Because,' He started, trying to come up with a reason, 'I said so.' Andrey snorted, looking him over.

'Okay, fine.' She held out her hand. 'Hi, I'm Andrey Jackson. Daughter of Poseidon.' Leo rolled his eyes, but took her hand and shook it.

'I'm Valdez. Leo Valdez.' He said, wiggling his eyebrows. 'Son of Hephaestus and devastatingly handsome young demigod.' She rolled her eyes and grabbed his hands, lurching him forwards.

'Come on, 007. You need to at least take me to the Aphrodite cabin and get me clothes before our tour's done.' He chuckled, his long fingers closing over her hand.

When we arrived at Aphrodite's cabin, Andrey immediately connected it to looking like a pink Barbie house, like the one she had in one of her foster homes when she was a toddler. It had a pink door, lace curtains, and flowers planted in pink flowerbeds by the windows. She looked at Leo and raised her eyebrow.

'I know it's too pink, and it's really girly, but Piper actually does have normal clothes.' Andrey looked at him skeptically. 'I swear.'

'Fine.' She groaned, and he opened the door and walked in. Her first thoughts were that Aphrodite was going to smite her for being in the cabin, but after a minute of not being smited, Andrey relaxed and looked around. The cabin smelt heavily of perfume, kind of like a Abercrombie and Fitch store, except with extremely girly/flowery smelling perfume and not a nice, musky smell.

The walls were pink with a white trim, and the curtains and beds were all either pastel blue or green. There was a lot of extremely good-looking people in the cabin, and a lot of the girls looked like they could be supermodels.

Leo led Andrey to a bed that was different from the others: instead of pastels, the bedding was black and white; and the posters were of actual movies instead of good-looking actors. There was a trunk in front of the bed, which read "Piper". Andrey looked up to see the girl from the Counsel meeting, and a new wave of anger started inside of her. Leo looked at the both girls and cleared his throat.

'So, we were wondering if Andrey could borrow some of your clothes. Or if, you know, you could make her some?' Leo asked Piper cautiously. Piper was still looking Andrey over, but obviously decided that Andrey was okay, because she nodded.

'Sure. I don't know whether or not her clothes will fit you, but I can definitely go through stuff and hem them for you.' She said to Andrey, and Andrey nodded, completely surprised at how nice she was.

'Thanks, I'd really appreciate it.' Piper smiled suddenly, and it seemed genuine. Andrey smiled back, glad that she hadn't made an enemy out of this girl. She seemed pretty cool.

'No problem. It looks like Leo's t-shirt doesn't fit you really well anyway.' She said, and Leo laughed.

'Yeah, we've already established that she's the smallest of the bunch. She's probably even smaller than Hazel, and that's saying something.' Andrey rolled her eyes.

'Oh, come on. Give me a break. I obviously didn't get Percy's Jolly Green Giant genes.' Piper burst out laughing, along with Leo. Andrey let out a laugh, and it felt good to actually laugh normally. Piper went to her trunk a while later and pulled out an orange t-shirt that was labeled Camp Half-Blood. It was big, but would probably fit. Piper then drew out some jeans, which were _definitely_ too big for Andrey in several places. She's not necessarily a "curvy" girl, okay? It's just another one of her (somewhat) body issues. Anyway, Piper gestured for Leo and Andrey to sit down, so they both gladly planted ourselves on the floor, leaning against the bed next to Piper's.

Piper waved her hand over the jeans, and suddenly they became smaller. _Much_ smaller. As if someone had shrunk them in the dryer.

'Holy Zeus.' Andrey said, and she looked at Piper. 'That's awesome!' Piper smiled at her. 'Can you create holes in them?' Andrey asked.

'Nah, but you can use this.' She said, bringing out a blade. Andrey smiled, grabbing the blade and started cutting and fraying the jeans. 'Here, I can cut the shirt.' Piper said, and Andrey handed over the blade. Piper cut the t-shirt so it was a tank top, and Andrey smiled at her gratefully. Piper looked down at Andrey's shoes and made a face.

'You're gonna need new ones.' She said, and moved to a bed across from her and rummaged through it. She took out a pair of small, black converse, which looked brand new.

'You're stealing these from another person?' Andrey asked, and she laughed.

'Technically, yes, but the owner has never worn them before and her step-mom gave them to her. She'll never notice they're gone, and if she does, she'll probably thank you.' Piper smiled, and Andrey looked at the shoes and took the reluctantly. Andrey put them on, and they fit perfectly. She then quickly went into the bathroom to slip on the clothes, and when she came out, Piper looked smug and Leo had his arms crossed, blushing slightly. Andrey raised an eyebrow and Piper just waved it away, like there was nothing wrong.

Leo got up quickly, looking Andrey over. 'Let's go get you to your cabin.' He said, a little too quickly.

'Um okay. Bye Piper! See you later!' Andrey said, waving. Piper waved back.

Andrey turned to Leo. 'You okay, Leo?' She asked, and he nodded.

'Yeah, it's just pretty late and you should probably get settled before lunch.' He led her to another cabin, which was low, long and solid. The walls were a rough, gray stone with pieces of seashells and coral on it, making it look like the ocean floor. Leo opened the door and stepped in, and Andrey looked around.

There were windows going from practically floor-to-ceiling on the right side of the cabin, which faced the lake. There were four empty bunk beds, with two of them obviously occupied: one was quite messy, and had a bunch of souvenirs and photos everywhere; and one was mostly clean, but had some scraps of metal on it. The walls glowed like abalone, and there was a fountain in the middle, made out of gray sea rock. A fish sprouted water from its mouth in the middle, and it had a coral decoration. As Andrey looked closer, she saw a bunch of golden Greek coins at the bottom. She looked around the room more, and saw a few bronze, huge sea horses on the ceiling and there were some underwater plants and corals sitting at the windowsills or sitting in the corners of the room.

Andrey looked at Leo in amazement, and realized he had been staring at her the whole time. She blushed and looked away. 'This is amazing.' She said, breaking the silence. 'It feels like… home.' She felt a burst of surprise at her own words, and realized they were true. This was the first time she had ever truly felt at home. She ran over to a bed, which was totally unoccupied and climbed up to the top bunk. She dumped her backpack there, and motioned for Leo to come up. He clambered up the ladder and sat facing her, his back resting against the backboard. She smiled and went through her stuff, showing him her belongings.

'This,' Andrey said, picking up her dagger, Romphaea, 'was a gift from a friend of mine, Sam. He was a son of Hephaestus, like you.' She held Romphaea out for Leo to see, and she looked the dagger over in pride. It had a short hilt, built for her hands, and its blade was long. 'It expands, hence it's name, which means "long sword" in Latin.' She held the dagger up and flicked her wrist, enabling it to expand to a sword. 'It's made of a mix between Celestial Bronze and Imperial Gold.' She looked at him sheepishly. 'I still don't exactly know how to wield it properly, cause Sam was teaching me but…' She stopped, flashes of memories coming back to her, 'he left.'

Leo looked at Romphaea in amazement. 'That's so cool.' He said, running his fingertips over the blade. 'I wish I could make something like that.' Andrey broke into a smile, running her own fingers across the blade.

'Yeah, Sam was an amazing handicraftsman. He could build _anything_.' Her voice cracked a little, but she held it together.

_Not now, Andrey._ She told herself. _You can't cry or do anything here. _She smiled and looked up at Leo, who was staring at her. _Oh, great. Those stupid eyes of his are just making this worse_. She looked away quickly, picking up another one of her possessions.

'This belonged to one of my foster fathers, probably one of my only good ones.' Andrey said, holding out a silver ring on a chain, that had a diamond pattern dented into the metal. 'He was an engineer, and this was his ring that he got when he graduated with his major.' She smiled a little. 'He was a great guy.' She put it on, and it hung just a little below her collarbone. 'There's also this,' She said, picking up a teddy bear, 'which I stole from one of my later foster sisters, cause she was being mean to me. I hid it underneath her mattress and she cried for hours on end, but they still never found it.' She smirked looking up at Leo. 'I was always the trouble maker.'

He smiled back. 'Yeah, me too. Except I was always ran.' Andrey looked up at him in shock.

'You were a foster kid too?' She asked, and he nodded.

'Yeah, but I never stayed in one place for long. I ran away, and child services moved me to another home. And so on a so forth.' She smiled.

'I only ran away once, and they never found me.' She winked at him. 'Been on the run for the past four and a half years.' He chuckled.

'You must be some kind of pro, or something.' She smirked.

'Or something.' She ] sighed, tucking the rest of her belongings back into her backpack. 'So is there like, lunch or something? Cause I'm starving.' And right on cue, her stomach growled. Leo laughed.

'Yeah, down at the dining pavilion. We can walk over there now, it's probably already started anyway.'

We walked for a while outside, Leo pointing out certain aspects of the Camp, like the arching range; the "climb wall of doom", which was basically a climbing wall that spat out lava; the arena, where Leo said campers learnt how to sword fight; and all the cabins, which there were twenty of.

'And here we are.' Leo said, gesturing towards the dining pavilion. 'We, unfortunately, can't sit together. It goes against the "camp rules", apparently. So you'll have to sit with Percy.' Andrey laughed as he made a face.

'What about me?' A voice asked behind us. She laughed even harder as Leo's face got red as he turned around.

'Nothing! Catch you later, Andrey.' He said, ruffling her hair. She smacked him in the arm as he strode over to the Hephaestus table. Percy just shook his head and led her over to the Poseidon table, where a Cyclops sat, who was waving Percy over.

'Um. Percy.' Andrey whispered, right before they got to the table. 'Why is there a Cyclops at the table?' He laughed.

'That's Tyson, our half-brother. He's awesome and really friendly. Like _really_. Brace yourself for some of the biggest hugs you've ever had.'

'Okay…' She said, and they walked over.

'Percy! Who's new girl?' Tyson asked, looking at me. 'She pretty.'

'Tyson, this is our sister, Andrey. Andrey, this is Tyson.' Tyson's eyes grew wide.

'Sister! Daughter of Poseidon?' She nodded with a smile. He got up and grabbed her waist, picking her up and hugging tight.

'Okay, maybe a little too tight.' Andrey squeaked, and Tyson put her down, and huge smile on his face. She smiled back and sat down between him and Percy. The pavilion was made up of multiple pillars that held up a triangular wooden roof. The tables were covered with white tablecloths fringed with purple, and at the very middle of the pavilion was a bonfire, which Percy said is lit during dinner. Nymphs arrived, serving them whatever drinks they want (Andrey ordered a Dr. Pepper), and sandwiches, along with grapes and cheese.

'This is great.' She said, between bites of her sandwich. Percy laughed.

'Yeah, it's pretty awesome. Except we aren't really allowed to sit with other cabins.'

'Oh, yeah, Leo told me about that. Why not?' She asked, and he shook his head.

'I don't really know. It's just always been a rule. It's only ever been broken by Annabeth, who came over to her table a few years ago to talk about a quest.' Andrey raised her eyebrow.

'Is she like, your girlfriend or something?' She asked, nudging him with her elbow. He rolled his eyes.

'Well, yeah, technically.' He said, with a big smile.

'Ohoho. Percy's got a _girlfriend_.' She said, wiggling her eyebrows. He shoved her a little, and she shoved him back.

'You're not funny.' Percy said, crossing his arms and rolling his eyes.

'I am _so._' Tyson laughed beside me. '_See_? Tyson thinks I'm funny. Right, Tyson?'

'Andrey funny.' He responded, chuckling into his hands. Percy shook his head, rolling his eyes.

Once lunch was done, Leo came over and waited for Andrey. Percy looked between the two of them. 'Something going on here?' He whispered to her, wiggling his eyebrows.

'What? _No_. What are you talking about?' She responded, all too quickly. She got up, waving him away. 'Bye Percy!' And at that, she left, before he could point out anything else.

'What was that about?' Leo asked curiously.

'Nothing, just Percy being Percy.' Andrey said, and he laughed.

'Okay, if you say so. Hey, I was wondering if you wanted to go to the arena, seeing as you said you needed to learn how to fight, which is a pretty important skill here…' He offered, and she smiled.

'Sounds awesome. I'll go get my sword and meet you there.' He nodded in agreement, and she sprinted off.

Once Andrey got to the cabin, she opened the door and clambered up the ladder to her bed. Her hand was already gripped around Romphaea when she heard the cabin door slam shut, and when she looked down, her eyes fell upon a woman. The woman was devastatingly beautiful, and her features seemed to change every moment Andrey stared at her, like she was representing every beautiful person in the universe. Angered clawed at Andrey insides.

'Aphrodite.' Andrey growled, glaring down at the woman. The woman glared back, standing her ground.

'Andromeda.'


End file.
